"txt spk" News Article Rewrite (Lecture 5) by Andrew Heck

The article I chose to translate was from the Globe and Mail, "One in three Canadians won't shake hands due to flu: poll," from Monday, October 19, 2009. Here it is:

1/3 cdns wont shake hands due 2 flu: poll

with olympics on the way, n ppl gathering in big crowds,  cdns r afraid of getting swine flu. a recnt poll of 1000 cdns showed that 1/3 cdns r choosing not 2 shake hands cuz of h1n1. more than 1/2 of these ppl said that they had refused 2 shake hands or give hugs cuz they were paranoid about getting the flu. 2/3 ppl also said that they didnt touch others in the past cuz of similar illnesses. the poll creator, doug anderson, said that this kind of behavior is not uncommon around other such illnesses. it might seems weird that ppl r doing this, but most ppl said that they wouldnt b offended if others showed the same behavior towards them.

olympic officials r advising athletes 2 not shake hands or kiss n instead bump elbows out of respect. similar practices r being adopted in canada also. in churches and in youth sports events, ppl r finding new ways 2 show respect, in order 2 avoid physical contact.

first nations chief ron evans has shown some concern 4 these practices, as they r impacting the cultures of the native ppls. there was even a case when ppl didnt attend a funeral of a swine flu victim cuz they were 2 afraid of catching the illness.

watever the future holds, we will surely continue to experience the ramifications of this type of behavior.